UFC 310 lands back in the spiritual home of Las Vegas this weekend for the final numbered card of the year.
Flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja defends his title against newcomer and Japanese superstar Kai Asakura in the main event.
The card is stacked from top to bottom with undefeated welterweights Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry coming together in the co-main event, while a featured bout on the main card sees a Heavyweight rematch between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov.
UFC Tips
- Shavkat Rakhmonov to win by Submission @ 2/1
- Ciryl Gane to win by Decision @ 4/6
- Dominick Reyes to win by KO, TKO or DQ @ 4/6
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Someones “0” has to go
We have the rare treat of two undefeated fighters squaring off in a title eliminator in the co-main event as Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0) and Ian Machado Garry (15-0) collide.
The pair were briefly teammates at American super gym Kill Cliff, with clips of sparring footage emerging in the build-up to this fight.
While we can’t read too much into those, both fighters have shown great confidence by taking this match-up.
For Rakhmonov, he was due to face Belal Muhammad for the Welterweight title on this card but wanted to stay on the bill after the champion withdrew through injury.
The feared Kazakhstan fighter is 6-0 in the UFC and has finished every opponent he has come up against in his pro career.
The 30 year old Combat Sambo wrestler submitted his three biggest UFC scalps in Stephen Thompson, Geoff Neal and Neil Magny.
Machado Garry stepped into this at late notice, but was preparing to face Joaquin Buckley in the UFC’s end-of-year card a week later.
The Irishman was last seen defeating Michael Page over three rounds in June, while his 8-0 UFC record has also seen decision wins over the aforementioned Neal and Magny.
Machado Garry is a technical striker and will feel he can put together the perfect gameplan to beat Rakhmonov, as he has done so successfully on his road into the top ten.
Trying to take the fight into the championship rounds is likely his best hope, but Rakhmonov submitted Geoff Neal deep into the third round of their contest and there is little evidence to suggest he will fade badly beyond this point.
This looks set to be an intriguing battle but it feels like Rakhmonov’s ruthlessness means he may just have the edge at this stage when it comes to exploiting any opportunity to finish his opponent.
Ciryl has everything to Gane
A rematch of their 2021 contest sees Ciryl Gane (12-2-0) face the resurgent Alexander Volkov (34-10-0).
A unanimous decision win over five rounds for the Frenchman in their first encounter saw him face Derrick Lewis for the interim Heavyweight title in his next fight in 2021, where he took gold by stopping Lewis via third round TKO.
A defeat to the returning Francis Ngannou followed at UFC 270, with Ngannou showing improvements in his grappling to take the victory.
Ngannou vacated the title after failing to agree a new contract, with Gane matched as Jon Jones’ first opponent in his step up to Heavyweight, a bout the American won by first round submission.
The 34-year-old was last seen defeating Serghei Spivac by TKO in Paris in September 2023.
Alexander Volkov comes into this in good form winning his last four fights, reaping the rewards from a training camp switch to Las Vegas.
A unanimous decision win over Sergei Pavlovich in June last time out was the most impressive of his recent run which has also seen him defeat Tai Tuivasa, Alexandr Romanov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
The 6”7 Russian’s last reverse was to Tom Aspinall via first round submission in London in 2019.
Both of Gane’s UFC defeats have come at the expense of his weaknesses in his grappling and he remains a highly technical and accurate (61%) striker.
The Frenchman is expected to start faster than in their first contest with the reduced rounds and although Volkov has improved, Gane has the athleticism and speed to outpoint him once again.
Reyes continues to rebuild
Dominick Reyes (13-4-0) looks to continue to rebuild his career with a win over Anthony Smith (37-20-0).
Reyes had been on a downward spiral after losing a controversial decision to Jon Jones in 2019.
That defeat was the start of a four-fight skid which also saw the American finished decisively by Ryan Spann, Jiří Procházka and Jan Błachowicz.
However, Reyes stopped the rot in June with a first round TKO of Dustin Jacoby.
The 34-year-old has rebuilt himself as a fighter both physically and mentally after suffering a series of injuries and illnesses.
Anthony Smith is another former Light Heavyweight title challenger looking to get things together for one final run.
Like Reyes, Smith went the distance with Jon Jones and could have possibly taken a DQ win after the champion landed an illegal knee.
Fast forward to today, and the 36-year-old is 13-10 in the UFC and 2-4 in his last six fights.
Wins over Vitor Petrino in May and Ryan Spann in August 2023 have been his only successes, while he was last seen in June losing by decision to Roman Dolidze who stepped up from Middleweight on a couple of days notice.
Reyes has a strong (81%) takedown defence and it feels like he has more left in the tank than Smith and could force a stoppage on the feet.
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